Summer Camp Uses Dance to Teach Students Life Skills

 

American Anai Espinoza is in the eighth grade. This summer, she took part in a summer dance program called AileyCamp. Each morning, she and other campers would say several phrases together. Her favorite is this: “I am in control.”

Espinoza said, “It makes me believe I have the power to choose the right thing.”

AileyCamp was created in 1989 in Kansas City, Missouri by world-famous dancer and director Alvin Ailey. About 1,000 students in 10 U.S. states take part in AileyCamp every year. It is a free, six-week program aimed at young people in financial need or who have school, social or family difficulties.

In addition to dance, the camp introduces students to visual arts, creative writing and other communication skills. It also teaches them how to eat well, solve conflicts and become leaders, notes the camp’s website.

Dianne Caroll Sales directs the AileyCamp in Atlanta, Georgia. When the camp over, the city’s professional ballet company offers 10 students a full-tuition scholarship for a year of training. The scholarship can be renewed¹.

Kameron Davis received one of those scholarships when he was a young man. He trained with the Atlanta Ballet for three years. Then he became a dance teacher. Davis said he does not think his mother could have paid for dance classes without the scholarship.

Davis said children at school made fun of him when he began dancing. AileyCamp, he said, offered him a safe place and increased his confidence. Today, he enjoys giving back to the program by helping² new campers build their confidence, too.

“It’s an open door to finding³ new things, doing new things,” Davis said. “When I got to AileyCamp, it just reassured⁵ me that, ‘Hey, it’s okay. Everybody is different. You shouldn’t be judged by what you do just because not a lot of people do it.’”

I’m Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

ballet - n. a kind of dancing that is performed on a stage and that uses dance, music, costumes, and scenery to tell a story

confidence - n. a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something

scholarship - n. n amount of money that is given by a school, an organization, etc., to a student to help pay for the student's education

reassure⁴ - v. to make (someone) feel less afraid, upset, or doubtful

1 renewed   

adj. 更新的，重建的，复兴的，重申的 动词renew的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• They regrouped their forces and renewed the attack. 他们重新聚集兵力，再次发动进攻。
• The army renewed its assault on the capital. 军队重新发动对首都的攻击。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

4 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

5 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》